Championship + David Conn | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/championship+profile/davidconn
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:56:39 GMT2015-03-31T20:56:39Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Former Leeds chief seeks private prosecution over ‘deceitful’ Dubai arresthttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/25/leeds-united-david-haigh-private-prosecution-gfh-dubai
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/21/david-haigh-leeds-united-arrested-dubai-gfh-financial-irregularities" title="">• Club’s ex-managing director held without charge for nine months</a><br />• Denies claims of defrauding former owners GFH of £3m<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/leeds-united-david-haigh-dubai-prison-fraud-allegations" title="">• How prospective buyer ended up in Dubai prison</a><p>Leeds United’s former managing director David Haigh has applied for a private prosecution against two senior executives at the club’s previous owners over an alleged plot to lure him to Dubai last May, where he was arrested and has since been held in a police cell without charge.</p><p>Haigh’s application to Westminster magistrates court seeks arrest warrants to be issued against the Gulf Finance House chief executive, Hisham Alrayes, and Jinesh Patel, chief executive of the Dubai subsidiary GFH Capital. Haigh claims they “conspired to defraud” by “agreeing dishonestly to deceive” him into travelling to Dubai with the promise of a job for GFH, when in fact they were planning to have him arrested and “procuring indefinite imprisonment, without charge, in very poor conditions”.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/25/leeds-united-david-haigh-private-prosecution-gfh-dubai">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedChampionshipFootballSportWed, 25 Feb 2015 09:49:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/25/leeds-united-david-haigh-private-prosecution-gfh-dubaiPhotograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesLeeds United's former managing director David Haigh has been held in a police cell in Dubai for nine months without charge. Photograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesLeeds United's former managing director David Haigh has been held in a police cell in Dubai for nine months without charge. Photograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2015-02-25T09:49:57ZHow prospective Leeds buyer ended up in Dubai prison over fraud allegationshttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/leeds-united-david-haigh-dubai-prison-fraud-allegations
David Haigh thought he was about to take over a great football club but after a remarkable turn of events he is now languishing in a crowded police cell<p>Among the myriad scandals that have engulfed Leeds United since the club’s financial collapse in the early 2000s, the current plight of the former managing director David Haigh, who has been held in a Dubai prison cell for eight months, accused but still not charged with a &pound;3m fraud, is perhaps the most toxic.</p><p>Haigh, an English solicitor, was the most prominent executive in the 2012 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/dec/21/leeds-united-gfh-capital-takeover" title="">takeover of Leeds from Ken Bates by Gulf Finance House</a>, an investment bank in Bahrain. He eventually moved to Leeds from Dubai to run the Championship club. A year later he left GFH and tried to buy Leeds himself, with the businessman Andrew Flowers, before GFH <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/08/massimo-cellino-completes-takeover-leeds-united" title="">sold a 75% stake to Massimo Cellino</a>, the Italian businessman now <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/19/massimo-cellino-loses-appeal-leeds-director" title="">banned as a director</a> having been convicted of tax fraud in Italy.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/leeds-united-david-haigh-dubai-prison-fraud-allegations">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedDubaiChampionshipFootballSportWed, 04 Feb 2015 22:30:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/leeds-united-david-haigh-dubai-prison-fraud-allegationsPhotograph: Back Page Images//REXDavid Haigh was close to engineering the purchase of Leeds United in 2013, but not long afterwards was arrested in Dubai and thrown into prison. Photograph: Back Page Images//REXPhotograph: Back Page Images//REXDavid Haigh was close to engineering the purchase of Leeds United in 2013, but not long afterwards was arrested in Dubai and thrown into prison. Photograph: Back Page Images//REXDavid Conn2015-02-04T22:30:09ZMassimo Cellino not required to sell Leeds United shares despite being banned as ownerhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/massimo-cellino-keep-leeds-united-shares-trust
• Italian has told Football League he does not directly own 75% stake<br />• MP Damian Collins brands move ‘unacceptable’ and a ‘mockery’<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/20/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-exposes-frailty-fit-proper-owner-test" title="">• Cellino case at Leeds United exposes frailty of fit and proper test</a><p>Massimo Cellino will not have to sell any stake in Leeds United, according to sources close to him, which would further undermine the Football League’s rules that ban convicted financial criminals from running clubs. The MP Damian Collins, who is campaigning for improved football club ownership rules, described the position as unacceptable and questioned whether the game can have confidence in the Football League chief executive, Shaun Harvey, who was formerly the chief executive at Elland Road.</p><p>The Italian businessman and former owner of Serie A club Cagliari was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/19/massimo-cellino-loses-appeal-leeds-director" title="">banned as an owner and director</a> two weeks ago after the league finally received the written judgment of a Cagliari court that he <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/24/massimo-cellino-leeds-reign-threat-tax-evasion-ruling" title="">dishonestly evaded an estimated €388,500 import tax on his yacht</a>, the Nelie.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/20/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-exposes-frailty-fit-proper-owner-test">Massimo Cellino case at Leeds United exposes frailty of fit and proper test | David Conn</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/massimo-cellino-keep-leeds-united-shares-trust">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedFootball LeagueChampionshipFootball politicsFootballSportWed, 04 Feb 2015 14:51:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/massimo-cellino-keep-leeds-united-shares-trustPhotograph: Adam Holt/Action ImagesMassimo Cellino has been banned as a director at Leeds United until April. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action ImagesPhotograph: Adam Holt/Action ImagesMassimo Cellino has been banned as a director at Leeds United until April. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action ImagesDavid Conn2015-02-04T14:51:00ZPeter Pannu resigns as Birmingham City director, amid website post rowhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/12/peter-pannu-resigns-birmingham-city-director
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/03/birmingham-city-football-league-director-peter-pannu-abuse" title="">• Carson Yeung associate apparently made comments on fan’s website</a><br />• Posts threatened legal action over Daniel Ivery’s book on Young<p>Peter Pannu, the long-term associate of the convicted money launderer Carson Yeung, who since Yeung’s 2009 takeover has been a senior executive at Birmingham City, has resigned from being a director of the club. The move, <a href="http://www.bcfc.com/news/article/peter-pannu-birmingham-city-fc-2139554.aspx" title="">announced in a brief club statement</a>, follows <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/03/birmingham-city-football-league-director-peter-pannu-abuse?CMP=twt_gu" title="">abusive and threatening comments Pannu apparently made</a> on the <a href="http://www.oftenpartisan.co.uk/" title="">Often Partisan website</a> run by a supporter, Daniel Ivery, the author of a book on Yeung’s dramatic period in charge.</p><p>The club and Ivery were certain the posts were genuinely from Pannu, who has not replied to an email from the Guardian asking if they were indeed his. In the posts, he signalled a threat of legal action in Hong Kong over Ivery’s book, Haircuts and League Cups, which traces Birmingham’s turbulent times under Yeung, a former hairdresser, who fronted an &pound;81m takeover in 2009 and was sentenced to six years in a Hong Kong prison for money laundering earlier this year.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/12/peter-pannu-resigns-birmingham-city-director">Continue reading...</a>Birmingham CityChampionshipFootballSportFri, 12 Dec 2014 17:11:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/12/peter-pannu-resigns-birmingham-city-directorPhotograph: David Jones/PAPeter Pannu, right, at a press conference in 2009 when Carson Yeung, left, became the club's owner. Photograph: David Jones/PAPhotograph: David Jones/PAPeter Pannu, right, at a press conference in 2009 when Carson Yeung, left, became the club's owner. Photograph: David Jones/PADavid Conn2014-12-12T17:11:43ZFA opens investigation into comments made by Wigan owner Dave Whelanhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/21/pfa-investigate-dave-whelan-jewish-chinese-comments
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/20/wigan-dave-whelan-accused-antisemitism-jewish-people" title="">• FA ‘very concerned’ regarding Whelan’s comments</a><br />• Vincent Tan: this is a racist chairman hiring a racist manager<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/21/dave-whelan-wigan-athletic-kick-it-out" title="">• Jewish board rejects Whelan’s ‘half-hearted apology’</a><p>The Football Association has launched an investigation into <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/21/pfa-investigate-dave-whelan-jewish-chinese-comments" title="">the comments Dave Whelan made to the Guardian</a> about Jewish and Chinese people, following his appointment of Malky Mackay as the Wigan Athletic manager. Seeking to explain why remarks Mackay made about the Jewish football agent Phil Smith were not in his view offensive, Whelan said that “Jewish people chase money more than everybody else” and that they are “shrewd people”. The Wigan owner also said it was “nothing” to call a “Chinaman” a “Chink” and that any Englishman who said he had not done so was lying. The remarks were strongly condemned by Jewish and Chinese community organisations.</p><p>The FA responded at 2:15pm on Friday, saying it had already started an investigation and that the FA’s governance division, which handles all disciplinary proceedings, has written to Whelan. He has three working days to respond. “The FA is very concerned to read about the comments that have been attributed to Dave Whelan,” football’s governing body said in a statement. “We take all forms of discrimination seriously. As with all such cases, this will be dealt with as a priority.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/21/pfa-investigate-dave-whelan-jewish-chinese-comments">Continue reading...</a>Dave WhelanWigan AthleticMalky MackayRace issuesChampionshipFootballSportFri, 21 Nov 2014 14:17:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/21/pfa-investigate-dave-whelan-jewish-chinese-commentsPhotograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesDave Whelan was acccused of antisemitism and condoning racism after making comments to the Guardian on Thursday. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesDave Whelan was acccused of antisemitism and condoning racism after making comments to the Guardian on Thursday. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-11-21T14:17:57ZDave Whelan accused of antisemitism in new controversyhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/20/wigan-dave-whelan-accused-antisemitism-jewish-people
<p>• ‘Jewish people chase money more than everybody else’<br>• Wigan owner under new fire after hiring Malky Mackay<br>• Chinese community leader accuses him of condoning racism<br><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/20/wigan-athletic-shirt-sponsor-premier-range-pull-out-malky-mackay">• Shirt sponsor pulls out saying its position is ‘untenable’</a><br><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/poll/2014/nov/20/wigan-athletic-right-appoint-malky-mackay-manager-poll">• Were Wigan right to appoint Mackay as manager?</a></p><p>Dave Whelan has been accused of antisemitism after the Wigan Athletic owner told the Guardian he believes “Jewish people chase money more than everybody else”.</p><p>A Chinese community leader, Jenny Wong, also said Whelan was condoning racism by saying it is “nothing” to call a Chinese person a “chink”.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/20/wigan-dave-whelan-accused-antisemitism-jewish-people">Continue reading...</a>Dave WhelanWigan AthleticMalky MackayChampionshipRace issuesFootballSportPremier LeagueSports rightsBusinessMediaBBCITV channelTelevision industryFri, 21 Nov 2014 07:41:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/20/wigan-dave-whelan-accused-antisemitism-jewish-peoplePhotograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action ImagesThe Wigan owner Dave Whelan, left, on the defensive after the appointment of Malky Mackay as manager. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action ImagesPhotograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action ImagesThe Wigan owner Dave Whelan, left, on the defensive after the appointment of Malky Mackay as manager. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action ImagesDavid Conn2014-11-21T07:41:06ZLeeds United have been served with a winding-up petition for £150,000http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/07/leeds-united-served-winding-up-petition
• Petition relates to failed legal actions in Ken Bates era<br />• Leeds demand that the petition be withdrawn<p>Leeds United have been served with a winding-up petition for &pound;150,000 in costs which relate to the club’s failed legal actions against the former director Melvyn Levi when Ken Bates was the club’s chairman and Shaun Harvey – now the Football League’s chief executive – was performing that role at Leeds.</p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2009/jul/10/ken-bates-libel-trial-defeat-leeds-united-full-story" title="">Levi successfully sued Bates personally for libel</a> over defamatory articles Bates wrote about him in the Leeds match programme and in June 2012 Leeds and Bates were <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/dec/18/leeds-shaun-harvey-yorkshire-radio" title="">found to have committed harassment of Levi</a>, in broadcasts Harvey instructed the club’s in-house radio station to make.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/07/leeds-united-served-winding-up-petition">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedFootball LeagueChampionshipFootball politicsFootballSportFri, 07 Nov 2014 20:33:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/07/leeds-united-served-winding-up-petitionPhotograph: John Sibley/Action ImagesThe outstanding amount relates to a case brought by Leeds United under the then chairman, Ken Bates, and Shaun Harvey. Photograph: John Sibley/Action ImagesPhotograph: John Sibley/Action ImagesThe outstanding amount relates to a case brought by Leeds United under the then chairman, Ken Bates, and Shaun Harvey. Photograph: John Sibley/Action ImagesDavid Conn2014-11-07T20:33:31ZBirmingham City have a new manager but appear to retain same old problemshttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/28/birmingham-city-problems-gary-rowett-carson-yeung
Gary Rowett has arrived but Carson Yeung continues to cast a shadow at City, who are already embroiled in a relegation battle<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/27/gary-rowett-birmingham-new-manager" title="">Gary Rowett has been appointed as the Birmingham manager</a> following Lee Clark’s sacking and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/25/birmingham-bournemouth-championship-match-report" title="">Saturday’s traumatic 8-0 home defeat by Bournemouth</a> but the trials of Blues supporters are unlikely to ease any time soon. While Carson Yeung, principal of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2009/oct/21/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-china" title="">the &pound;81.5m takeover of City from David Sullivan and David Gold in 2009</a>, is in prison <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/03/carson-yeung-past-birmingham-city-future" title="">after a conviction for money-laundering in March</a>, the Hong Kong parent company, Birmingham International Holdings Ltd, shows scant interest in the grim decline it has overseen at St Andrew’s.</p><p>A former banker, Panos Pavlakis, whose partner is related to Yeung, has been installed as BIHL’s representative director and has garnered some surprise approval, working in the club’s offices, unlike his predecessor Peter Pannu, who in his last two years rarely came over from Hong Kong.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/28/birmingham-city-problems-gary-rowett-carson-yeung">Continue reading...</a>Birmingham CityCarson YeungChampionshipFootballSportTue, 28 Oct 2014 11:51:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/28/birmingham-city-problems-gary-rowett-carson-yeungPhotograph: Mark Thompson/Getty ImagesBIHL have declared £11m and £22m bank loans secured on 'land and buildings in the UK'; thought to be St Andrews. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Mark Thompson/Getty ImagesBIHL have declared £11m and £22m bank loans secured on 'land and buildings in the UK'; thought to be St Andrews. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-10-28T11:51:47ZFormer Leeds United managing director sues GFH from Dubai jail cellhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/07/david-haigh-former-leeds-chief-sues-gfh
• David Haigh sues former Leeds owners for alleged deceit<br />• Claims he was lured to Dubai with ‘false’ promise of a job<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/21/david-haigh-leeds-united-arrested-dubai-gfh-financial-irregularities" title="">• Haigh held in Dubai jail cell for five months without charge</a><p>The former Leeds United managing director David Haigh, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/21/david-haigh-leeds-united-arrested-dubai-gfh-financial-irregularities" title="">who has been held in a jail cell by Dubai police without charge for five months</a>, has sued his former employers and Leeds owners, Gulf Finance House, for alleged deceit.</p><p>Haigh’s claim, issued in the high court in London, alleges that GFH, its Dubai subsidiary GFH Capital, the GFH directors Hisham Al Rayes and Jinesh Patel, and a Dubai-based lawyer, Peter Gray of the firm Gibson Dunn, lured him to Dubai in May with the “false” promise of a job.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/07/david-haigh-former-leeds-chief-sues-gfh">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedChampionshipFootballSportTue, 07 Oct 2014 16:40:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/07/david-haigh-former-leeds-chief-sues-gfhPhotograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesDavid Haigh, the former Leeds United managing director, has been held in a Dubai jail cell without charge for five months. Photograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesDavid Haigh, the former Leeds United managing director, has been held in a Dubai jail cell without charge for five months. Photograph: Rob Munro/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-10-07T16:40:11ZChampionship club accounts: profit, loss and the wage billhttp://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/22/championship-club-accounts-profit-loss-and-the-wage-bill
<p>Guardian analysis shows that the 24 clubs in the 2012-13 Championship had a collective net debt of almost £1bn. How much money did they spend on wages and how much profit did they make?<br>• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/club-by-club-guide-championship-finances-2012-2013">Club-by-club guide to Championship finances</a><br>• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/championship-finances-1bn-debt-financial-fair-play-premier-league">Championship clubs rack up £1bn debt</a></p><p>We've looked at the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/01/premier-league-club-accounts-debt-wages">Premier League finances</a>, now it's time for the Football League Championship clubs' accounts to get the same treatment. Guardian analysis of the most recent accounts for the Championship clubs <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/championship-finances-1bn-debt-financial-fair-play-premier-league">shows a combined net debt of almost &pound;1bn</a>.</p><p>Of the clubs in the Championship during 2012-13, only four made a profit, of &pound;8.3m in total. The largest profit was recorded by Blackpool (&pound;4.6m profit before tax) followed by Barnsley at &pound;1.9m. Crystal Palace reported profits of 1.6m and Watford's accounts show a profit of &pound;190,000. </p><p>The dire financial state of the Football League Championship has been revealed by a Guardian analysis of the 24 clubs' most recent accounts, which shows they owed a combined debt of almost &pound;1bn. </p><p>The division's severe difficulties are caused principally by the financial chasm between the Championship and the Premier League, which means promotion, which will be claimed by either Derby County or Queens Park Rangers in Saturday's Wembley play-off final, is worth at least &pound;120m. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/22/championship-club-accounts-profit-loss-and-the-wage-bill">Continue reading...</a>SportUK newsFootballBlackpoolBarnsleyCrystal PalaceWatfordBlackburn RoversLeicester CityWolverhampton WanderersCardiff CityBirmingham CityBolton WanderersBrighton & Hove AlbionBristol CityBurnleyCharlton AthleticDerby CountyHuddersfieldHull CityIpswich TownLeeds UnitedMiddlesbroughMillwallNottingham ForestPeterboroughChampionshipThu, 22 May 2014 21:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/22/championship-club-accounts-profit-loss-and-the-wage-billPhotograph: Michael Regan/Getty ImagesNigel Pearson, manager of Leicester City celebrates winning the Championship in April 2014. The club had a turnover of £19.6m in 2012-13. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Michael Regan/Getty ImagesNigel Pearson, manager of Leicester City celebrates winning the Championship in April 2014. The club had a turnover of £19.6m in 2012-13. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty ImagesAmi Sedghi Data by David Conn2014-05-22T21:00:10ZSurvival of the fittest: club-by-club guide to Championship financeshttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/club-by-club-guide-championship-finances-2012-2013
Who are the owners, what is the turnover, how much is spent on wages and everything else you want to know from the 2012/13 accounts of the 24 clubs in the Championship that season<br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/championship-finances-1bn-debt-financial-fair-play-premier-league" title="">Championship clubs rack up £1bn debt</a><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/22/championship-club-accounts-profit-loss-and-the-wage-bill" title="">Datablog: profit, loss and the wage bill </a><p><strong> Ownership</strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/club-by-club-guide-championship-finances-2012-2013">Continue reading...</a>ChampionshipFootballFootball LeagueFinancesSportBarnsleyBirmingham CityBlackburn RoversBolton WanderersBrighton & Hove AlbionBristol CityBurnleyCardiff CityCharlton AthleticDerby CountyHuddersfieldHull CityIpswich TownLeeds UnitedLeicester CityMiddlesbroughMillwallNottingham ForestCrystal PalacePeterboroughSheffield WednesdayWatfordWolverhampton WanderersBlackpoolThu, 22 May 2014 20:59:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/club-by-club-guide-championship-finances-2012-2013Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty ImagesVincent Tan's Cardiff City won promotion to the Premier League with the third highest wage bill in the Championship. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Michael Steele/Getty ImagesVincent Tan's Cardiff City won promotion to the Premier League with the third highest wage bill in the Championship. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty ImagesPhotograph: David Rogers/Getty ImagesDean Saunders' Wolves were relegated in a season when the 24 Championship clubs owed a combined debt of almost £1bn. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty ImagesPhotograph: David Rogers/Getty ImagesDean Saunders' Wolves were relegated in a season when the 24 Championship clubs owed a combined debt of almost £1bn. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesKevin Phillips is hoisted aloft by André Moritz after his penalty gave Crystal Palace victory in the 2013 play off final. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesKevin Phillips is hoisted aloft by André Moritz after his penalty gave Crystal Palace victory in the 2013 play off final. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-05-22T20:59:10ZChampionship clubs rack up £1bn debt prompting financial fair play ruleshttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/championship-finances-1bn-debt-financial-fair-play-premier-league
• Wembley play-off final victory is worth at least £120m<br />• Second-tier clubs’ debts came to a combined £947m<br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/club-by-club-guide-championship-finances-2012-2013" title="">Club-by-club finances in the Championship 2012-13</a><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/may/22/championship-club-accounts-profit-loss-and-the-wage-bill" title="">Datablog: profit, loss and the wage bill</a><p>The dire financial state of the Football League Championship has been revealed by the Guardian’s analysis of the 24 clubs’ most recent accounts, which shows they owed a combined debt of almost &pound;1bn.</p><p>The division’s severe difficulties are caused principally by the financial chasm between the Championship and the Premier League, which means promotion, which will be claimed by either Derby County or Queens Park Rangers in Saturday’sWembley play-off final, is worth at least &pound;120m.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/championship-finances-1bn-debt-financial-fair-play-premier-league">Continue reading...</a>ChampionshipFootball LeagueQPRDerby CountyFinancesFootballBusinessSportThu, 22 May 2014 20:59:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/championship-finances-1bn-debt-financial-fair-play-premier-leaguePhotograph: Craig Brough/Action ImagesShaun Harvey explained that the financial fair play rules are aimed at staunching the huge losses made by Championship clubs. Photograph: Craig Brough/Action ImagesPhotograph: Craig Brough/Action ImagesShaun Harvey explained that the financial fair play rules are aimed at staunching the huge losses made by Championship clubs. Photograph: Craig Brough/Action ImagesDavid Conn2014-05-22T20:59:10ZLeeds United: five key questions answered | David Connhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/18/leeds-united-five-key-questions-massimo-cellino
What does the conviction of prospective owner Massimo Cellino mean for the takeover of Leeds United?<p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/18/leeds-united-five-key-questions-massimo-cellino">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedChampionshipBusinessSportFootballTue, 18 Mar 2014 13:34:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/18/leeds-united-five-key-questions-massimo-cellinoClaudio Villa/Getty ImagesMassimo Cellino's takeover of Leeds United is now in serious doubt after his conviction in Italy. Photograph: Claudio Villa/Getty ImagesClaudio Villa/Getty ImagesMassimo Cellino's takeover of Leeds United is now in serious doubt after his conviction in Italy. Photograph: Claudio Villa/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-03-18T13:34:48ZProspective Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino guilty of tax evasionhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/18/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-takeover-tax-evasion-guilty
• Italian fined €600,000 over evading import duty on yacht <br />• Football League likely to block takeover of Championship club <br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/18/leeds-united-five-key-questions-massimo-cellino" title="">David Conn: what does this now mean for Leeds United?</a><p>The Italian businessman <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/05/leeds-takeover-massimo-cellino-accused-tax-evasion-yacht" title="">Massimo Cellino's deal to buy Leeds United looks almost certain to be blocked</a> by the Football League after a court in Sardinia found Cellino guilty of illegally evading import duty, a criminal offence. Cellino, the agriculture magnate and owner of the Serie A club Cagliari, was ordered to pay a €600,000 (&pound;500,000) fine after the court in Cagliari convicted him of failing to pay €388,500 in tax on N&eacute;lie, a yacht seized by Italian police and customs officials in June 2012.</p><p>The Football League's &quot;owners and directors&quot; test, formerly the &quot;fit and proper persons&quot; test, bars people from becoming directors or 30% owners of a club if they have &quot;unspent convictions for offences of dishonesty&quot;. The league said after the verdict only that it had &quot;noted the outcome&quot; of the case and were &quot;engaged in an ongoing dialogue&quot; with Cellino's lawyers. The criminal conviction makes it highly likely Cellino will be barred from taking over.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/18/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-takeover-tax-evasion-guilty">Continue reading...</a>Leeds UnitedFootballSportFootball LeagueChampionshipBusinessBusinessTue, 18 Mar 2014 09:12:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/18/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-takeover-tax-evasion-guiltyBen Hoskins/Getty ImagesMassimo Cellino's takeover of Leeds United is under scrutiny from the Football League Photograph: Ben Hoskins/Getty ImagesBen Hoskins/Getty ImagesMassimo Cellino's takeover of Leeds United is under scrutiny from the Football League Photograph: Ben Hoskins/Getty ImagesDavid Conn and Lizzy Davies in Cagliari2014-03-18T09:12:44ZCarson Yeung and the takeover that was a riddle wrapped in a mystery | David Connhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-riddle-mystery
Warning signs over former Hong Kong hairdresser should have been heeded before he acquired Birmingham City<p>The Premier League is satisfied it followed all its rules on &quot;fit and proper people&quot; when it welcomed a smiling Carson Yeung to take over Birmingham City for an &pound;81.5m price in 2009, and no review has been prompted by the verdict of a Hong Kong judge that Yeung had by then laundered &pound;55m, which was the proceeds of crime.</p><p>In his 84-page judgment, Judge Douglas Yau cast Yeung as a liar, &quot;not a witness of truth&quot;, who exaggerated the earnings from his hairdressing salons and stock market trading; was an &quot;avid gambler&quot; in the VIP suites of Macau casinos whose staff and a boss, Cheung Chi Tai, a suspected triad, paid money including &quot;folding cash&quot; into Yeung's bank accounts.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-riddle-mystery">Continue reading...</a>Carson YeungBirmingham CityFinancesPremier LeagueChampionshipFootballFootball LeagueSportThu, 13 Mar 2014 22:03:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-riddle-mysteryDavid Jones/PACarson Yeung, who exaggerated his earnings from hairdressing and stock market trading, takes over Birmingham City in 2009. Photograph: David Jones/PADavid Jones/PACarson Yeung, who exaggerated his earnings from hairdressing and stock market trading, takes over Birmingham City in 2009. Photograph: David Jones/PADavid Conn2014-03-13T22:03:00ZCarson Yeung had previous conviction before Birmingham takeoverhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-offences-birmingham-city-fit-and-proper-test
• Still allowed to take over club despite 'fit and proper' test<br />• £2.8m of laundered money used to buy shares in 2007<br />• Yeung serving six-year prison sentence for money-laundering<br />• T<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-riddle-mystery">he takeover that was a riddle wrapped in a mystery</a><p>Carson Yeung, now serving a six-year prison sentence in Hong Kong for money-laundering, was convicted of two other criminal offences in the past decade yet the Premier League still allowed him to take over Birmingham City in 2009 and remain chairman in 2010. Yeung's other convictions took place in 2004 and 2010 yet the Football League allowed Yeung to remain Birmingham's chairman until he stepped down last month.</p><p>Both leagues have &quot;owners and directors&quot; tests – previously the &quot;fit and proper persons&quot; test – which prohibit people from becoming directors of a football club, or owners of a substantial stake, if they have &quot;unspent convictions for offences of dishonesty&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-offences-birmingham-city-fit-and-proper-test">Continue reading...</a>Carson YeungBirmingham CityFinancesPremier LeagueFootball LeagueChampionshipFootballSportThu, 13 Mar 2014 12:53:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/13/carson-yeung-offences-birmingham-city-fit-and-proper-testNigel French/PACarson Yeung's parking place outside Birmingham City’s stadium. Photograph: Nigel French/PAKin Cheung/APCameramen and photographers try to take pictures of Carson Yeung as he sits in a van outside a district court in Hong Kong. Photograph: Kin Cheung/APGlyn Kirk/AFP/Getty ImagesCarson Yeung holds the trophy with manager Alex McLeish after Birmingham won the 2011 League Cup. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty ImagesBloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesCarson Yeung was convicted of two other criminal offences in the past decade yet the Premier League still allowed him to take over Birmingham City in 2009. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesCarson Yeung was convicted of two other criminal offences in the past decade yet the Premier League still allowed him to take over Birmingham City in 2009. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-03-13T12:53:34ZThe fall of Carson Yeung: future remains unclear for Birmingham Cityhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/07/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-money-laundering
The former Birmingham chairman's six-year conviction for money laundering has cast a long shadow as fans continue to call for the sale of the troubled club<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/07/birmingham-city-carson-yeung-jailed-six-years" title="">fall of Carson Yeung</a> from multimillionaire ownership and chairmanship of a Premier League football club he took over in 2009 has been completed with a prison sentence of six years for money-laundering offences, delivered by a Hong Kong court. Yeung, who stepped down only last month as the chairman of Birmingham City, now in the Championship, was found guilty on Monday of having laundered HK$721m (&pound;55m) which were the proceeds of crime.</p><p>Most of the money which went through five of Yeung's bank accounts between 2001 and 2007 came from illicit sources in China's gambling capital of Macau, the judge, Douglas Yau, had decided. Yeung was the most prominent figure involved in a takeover of 29% of Birmingham in 2007, then in the full purchase of the club from the former majority owners David Sullivan and David Gold, for &pound;81.5m in 2009.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/07/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-money-laundering">Continue reading...</a>Carson YeungBirmingham CityChampionshipFinancesBusinessFootballSportFri, 07 Mar 2014 11:53:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/07/carson-yeung-birmingham-city-money-launderingDavid Jones/PAThe former Birmingham City chairman Carson Yeung has been sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering by a court in Hong Kong. Photograph: David Jones/PADavid Jones/PAThe former Birmingham City chairman Carson Yeung has been sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering by a court in Hong Kong. Photograph: David Jones/PADavid Conn2014-03-07T11:53:57ZQPR debt rises to £177m after reporting £65.4m loss last seasonhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/06/qpr-debt-177m-report-premier-league-relegation
• Accounts cover period which ended in relegation from top tier<br />• Wages rose to £78m with turnover only £60.6m<p>The eyewatering cost of Queens Park Rangers' doomed attempt to stay in the Premier League last season has been revealed by the publication of the club's financial accounts for 2012-13, which show the club made a loss of &pound;65m. During a tumultuous year in which the club's owners, led by the Malaysian airline entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, sacked Mark Hughes as the manager, appointed Harry Redknapp and backed both to spend significantly in the transfer market, the club's wage bill rose by &pound;20m. The total wages QPR paid to all staff in the year to 31 May 2013 was &pound;78m, &pound;17m more than the club's entire income of &pound;61m.</p><p>The total annual loss of &pound;65m is the largest loss recorded by any football club in England in 2012-13, according to the accounts published so far. QPR, thought to be one of the clubs which backed the solicitors, Brabners, to issue a legal threat recently opposing the Championship's financial fair play rules, appear to have a major problem complying with the FFP limits on losses, &pound;8m this season.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/06/qpr-debt-177m-report-premier-league-relegation">Continue reading...</a>QPRBusinessFinancesChampionshipFootballSportThu, 06 Mar 2014 14:42:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/06/qpr-debt-177m-report-premier-league-relegationJonathan Brady/PAQueens Park Rangers chairman Tony Fernandes has seen the club's debt rocket following their lavish spending in the Premier League. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PAJonathan Brady/PAQueens Park Rangers chairman Tony Fernandes has seen the club's debt rocket following their lavish spending in the Premier League. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PADavid Conn2014-03-06T14:42:01ZWage bills result in big losses at Leicester City and Nottingham Foresthttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/05/wage-bills-leicester-city-nottingham-forest-losses
• Both Championship clubs opposed to financial fair play<br />• Wages cost more than turnover of heavily subsidised clubs<p>Leicester City and Nottingham Forest, two of the clubs understood to be opposed to the Football League's financial fair play rules in the Championship, have reported heavy losses for the 2012-13 financial year.</p><p>Leicester, owned by the King Power duty free company of Thailand and current leaders of the Championship, made a loss of &pound;34m, according to their accounts just published, which follows &pound;30m in 2011-12.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/05/wage-bills-leicester-city-nottingham-forest-losses">Continue reading...</a>Leicester CityNottingham ForestChampionshipFinancial fair playFootballSportWed, 05 Mar 2014 15:42:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/05/wage-bills-leicester-city-nottingham-forest-lossesPa Wire/PALeicester City, understood to be opposed to financial fair play, reported a loss of £34m in 2012-13. Photograph: Pa Wire/PAPa Wire/PALeicester City, understood to be opposed to financial fair play, reported a loss of £34m in 2012-13. Photograph: Pa Wire/PADavid Conn2014-03-05T15:42:59ZWhy Championship clubs are crying foul over financial fair play ruleshttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/26/financial-fair-play-championship-clubs-threat-football-league
Teams scrambling to get into the Premier League say unfair rules will harm their chances of promotion by deterring investment <br />• <a href="http://www.guprod.gnl/football/2014/feb/26/financial-fair-play-clubs-threat-football-league" title="">Clubs make legal threat to Football League</a><p>The Football League Championship's <a href="http://www.financialfairplay.co.uk/financial-fair-play-explained.php" title="">financial fair play</a> rules, which have been threatened with a legal challenge by &quot;several clubs&quot; who have not identified themselves, were introduced in April 2012 to address the huge losses sustained by many clubs in a division most are desperate to escape. Gaining one of three precious promotion places, in a fierce competition of 24 clubs playing 46 league games, is customarily done by paying lucrative wages to attract the right players, which makes it difficult for allclubs to keep their spending under control.</p><p>The &quot;parachute payments&quot; made by the Premier League to cushion the financial blow of relegation for its clubs, now up to &pound;59m over four years, hugely more than the other Championship clubs receive from their TV deal, further inflate wages.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/26/financial-fair-play-championship-clubs-threat-football-league">Continue reading...</a>Financial fair playFootball LeagueChampionshipFinancesFootballBusinessQPRSportWolverhampton WanderersBlackburn RoversWed, 26 Feb 2014 19:42:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/26/financial-fair-play-championship-clubs-threat-football-leagueStu Forster/Getty ImagesVincent Tan’s Cardiff City won the Football League Championship last season at the cost of a £31m loss. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty ImagesStu Forster/Getty ImagesVincent Tan’s Cardiff City won the Football League Championship last season at the cost of a £31m loss. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty ImagesDavid Conn2014-02-26T19:42:00Z